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Circumnavigation of Australia

Sail Date:
March 2013

Destination:
Australia & New Zealand

Embarkation:
Sydney (Australia)

Sydney to Sydney anticlockwise around Australia. Seas were kind to us, only one bad day and that meant we missed Adelaide. Also missed Bunburry due to silt build up in harbour, but we had extra time in Fremantle and Melbourne.

I am Australian so do not get the daily bill for tips - how all cruises should be, although this is probably just an Aussie thing - I take it into account when booking, most Australians get a shock if they get the tipping daily fee and are unaware of it.

Overall Princess did a good job, the food was fine as usual, crew were good, no real complaints.

Things that could be done better:
1. Captain Who ?? Never heard a peep from the Captain until he came on and said we cannot go into Bunburry then nothing ,,then on again to say we cannot get into Adelaide...everyone on board thought he must be on his retirement cruise and doesn't care what the passengers think of him.
2. Princess policy on taking Alcohol on board - has always been the More
same but never enforced in last few years so could bring back a bottle from port anytime - but suddenly it was enforced after a few ports, no warnings issued, just give me the bottles you can have them back at the end.
3. Duty Free alcohol on board is a ripoff - basically you can buy it in Australia for almost the same as they are selling on board as being a bargain. eg Jim Bean for $30 for 1 litre, can get it on P&O for about $20 or in Port Vila for $15.
4. Fix up the broken gym equipment - most of the walker / jogging machines have software problems.
5. Trivia is a great fun time - but when the same people win nearly every day it becomes a bit much - shorly they can penalize a group or only allow them to win so many times.
6. Whilst the band were probably fine musicians - I don't think a Jamacan band trying to sing girl songs is going to get old people up dancing.
7. Disco starts late every night - needs to start earlier, no wonder no one ever turns up. Also they play music that doesn't suite the disco era most of the time. Bring back the old days like on the Fairstar...
8. Photography - rip off prices, if they halved the prices from $20 to $10 or less ( probably cost them 10 cents a print ) they would sell a lot more and people may want their picture taken, most people run from them after a few ports.

I suppose I could go on, but I would be too picky, all ships have little things that could quite easily be fixed with very little cost if any...I think most ships have drifted away from the basic concept of just having lots of fun and become too serious. Less

Port Melbourne for ship, to get around in Melbourne it's a bit of a pain, need to buy a special card then load it up with money...what a pain. We walked everywhere, even to St Kilda 7km along the beach and into town 5km each way. But if you get your card you can get a one day trip that covers buses and trams. Lots to see, free buses and trams once in the city to get a ride around to all the sites.